A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an invitation or social expressions piece, and more particularly, a social expressions piece produced from a sheet of metal that is convertible from the social expressions piece to a decorative item.
B. Description of Related Art
Social expressions are abundant in the art. Most are made of paper, though more unique materials are currently being introduced in innovative applications. Higher end materials, such as wood and metal are making their way into specialty markets but are relatively few by comparison.
An unfortunate result of sending social expressions is the waste. The invitations and cards are received, read, and disposed of quickly. The recipient may hold on to it for a period of time if he/she is especially sentimental, but typically social expressions pieces have a short life-span and cannot be transformed into another useful purpose.
Attempts have been made to encourage the recipient to create something out of the social expressions paper. A description of a few examples of prior art follows.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,087,576 to Patterson provides for a panel that can be removed from the paper greeting card and the recipient can punch out an ornament to be hung for decorative purposes. While decorative, this does not dissuade the recipient from discarding the remaining card since paper is generally perceived as temporary and not valuable.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,515,838 to Miyajima discloses a metal sheet to be printed on with a planar writing medium affixed to the back side of the metal.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,179,437 to Hardy discloses stamping a metal blank to form a candle holder which can be sold in a flat, unfolded state and mailed in an envelope to a gift recipient who can then fold the candle holder's panels. Though the end product is a home décor product, it does not have the added benefit of being utilized as a social expressions piece as its primary intended use.
The prior art has shortcomings. None of the above-cited prior art documents acts as both a social expression and a decorative item, where the entire social expression is converted into a decorative item without waste. The present invention overcomes these, and other, shortcomings in the art.